What I Like About You
by SushiChica
Summary: Your smile. Your determination. Your laugh. Your fury. Just a few things I like about you. [A Mar'i and Lian fanfiction][AU, almost][Cowrite with Daybreak25, making it extra special.]
1. Appropriately Inseperable

This fic…began as a conversation between a few members of TGN Forums discussing how, well, if you didn't love little Lian Harper, you had no heart. No soul. No…function in life. Daybreak25 go the initial idea of brilliance: A fic focusing on Lian and Mar'i; what their lives were like, how they worked, what they enjoyed, what they hated…etc. I, of course, heard this idea and begged to collaborate…because what could be more fun than writing a fic about Lian Harper and Mar'i Grayson growing up together as best friends? Daybreak kindly agreed to my pleading…and here we are. We'll be alternating chapters…and you'll be in for some AU type surprises…as most of this isn't quite by the Kingdom Come book. First chapter's by me…so here we go.

----

For the very first time in a very _long_ time, Rose Wilson realized that she was in over her head.

"Guys?" She called down the long hall, one of many in Titans Tower, peering into the open room beside her. "Crap…guys? Where are you?" The hall was silent in response. This wasn't right. Usually this only took her a few minutes; half an hour at best, but it had been forty five minutes and Rose hadn't heard a peep. No heavy, nervous breathing, no jittery movement. Even with her heightened awareness, there was nothing. This had only happened once before, and she didn't like the idea of it happening again…

"What the-" Rose yelped as something whistled past her hip and struck the wall, releasing a billowing smokescreen. She reached out and snatched a tiny arrow off the wall and groaned as she examined it. The teen didn't bother turning around; she could already feel the familiar looming presence. Only a few moments more and…

_Wump_.

Two tiny, giggling bodies landed on her back, knocking her forward and face first onto the floor.

"Okay, okay! You guys win," Rose choked out as the two seven year olds on her back rolled off onto the floor beside her, still laughing delightedly. The smokescreen slowly melted away.

"Lian almost stuck ya in the butt with one of her daddy's smoky arrows," a violet eyed girl announced proudly, as soon as she had calmed enough to speak without bursting into a fit of laughter, "then I flew us to ya and we dropped!"

"Yes, yes you did. Weren't we playing tag or hide and seek, not stalk-and-kill?" Rose sat up and rubbed her back with the hand that wasn't holding the minute smokescreen arrow. Her gaze shifted to the girl who had yet to speak. She was twirling a lock of reddish brown hair around her fingers, trying to stop grinning at her babysitter's stern look but failing miserably. "Did Daddy say you could play with these?"

"He said I could practice with 'em…" the arrow slinger dodged clumsily, a shaft of light gracing her dark hair, making the slightest hints of red considerably more pronounced.

"_Outside_ the training room?" Rose gestured to the arrow with a nod, and both girls' faces got a little less giddy.

"Uh…no," the girl bit her lip, as though pondering what to say next, before suddenly proclaiming, "_but it was Mar'i's idea!_"

"_No it wasn't_!" The other girl protested loudly, jumping to her feet. "You were the one who said it'd be funny to sneak attack Rose when she thought we were hiding again, even if she got mad at us like last time!"

"Yeah, but _you_ planned everything out!" Dark hair flew as the first girl pulled herself up in a flurry to match her opponent's height.

"Hey, easy you two," Rose said, hoping they could hear her over their own little argument. "You're both too much like your fathers…"

And it was undeniably true. Lian Harper was the daughter of Arsenal, Roy Harper, the Titan with big ideas but not a shred of plans to back them up. Nightwing, or Dick to those who knew his true identity, had fathered Mar'i Grayson, a daughter that, not unlike him, set things up with a frightening amount of precision. There was no doubt in Rose's mind that both Lian and Mar'i were as brilliant as their fathers. Factor in Cheshire and Starfire blood, and the prospects were slightly alarming.

"Are you mad at us Rose?" Both girls were suddenly giving their babysitter the insufferably irresistible puppy face, although it was Lian who spoke.

"Oh, of course not," Rose sighed as she gathered her charges into a tight hug. They squeezed back, not being able to restrain more little giggles.

"Hey, guess what? I'm gettin' better with my starbolts! Wanna see?" Mar'i stepped back, her hands balled and flickering with a hazy and seemingly untamed purple glow. A tiny bolt escaped the ebony haired girl's fist, and she squeaked as it hit and left a small burn mark on the wall. "Oops…" Her hands lost their glow.

"That was…better than last time," Rose decided with a small smile, hoping her words were somewhat encouraging.

"_Last _time she nearly burned off Auntie Kory's eyebrows," Lian reminded them smarmily, referring to Mar'i's most recent training session with her mother.

"Oh yeah? Well last time you nearly froze Auntie Donna _and_ Uncle Garth!"

"They'd just walked in the room! How was I supposed to know they'd be there?"

"You shot the arrow _after_ they walked in!"

"Okay!" Rose called, finally hoisting herself to her feet in a desperate attempt to salvage her sanity. "Ice cream time."

"Ice cream!" The argument was immediately forgotten at the prospect of a treat. Mar'i and Lian linked arms clumsily and marched toward the kitchen with nearly identical smiles. There was only one way Rose could think to describe the pair as she watched them walk down the hall.

Appropriately, albeit occasionally argumentatively, inseparable.

----

**(Chapter by SushiChica)**


	2. Sand Castle

Mar'i was late.

It was kinda weird, because Mar'i was never late. Well, sometimes. Maybe. A little. If she was late it was usually Uncle Dick's fault 'cause he always had to be with Bruce somewhere, but Mar'i said she'd be coming by herself today so she was late all by herself. And that was even more weird, 'cause Mar'i was never late.

The smell of burnt burgers flittered around Lian's nose as she absently splashed her feet in the murky waters of the ocean, humming a song under her breath. She hoped Mar'i was okay, she'd never flown by herself before. Uncle Dick was always somewhere behind her, but Mar'i had been so happy when she'd told her that she was flying by herself for the first time _EVER._

Lian hoped she hadn't been eaten or something. Daddy always said that sharks liked to jump for their food. Well, she'd heard him tell Auntie Dinah, anyway. Daddy never said scary stuff to her out loud, but she always heard them. Especially when he was talking to Uncle Wally. Uncle Wally liked to repeat stuff that Daddy said really loudly, and sometimes she could hear the wind repeat it over and over. Auntie Donna said that Uncle Wally always sounded 'in-cred-ulous.'

Uncle Wally wasn't being incredulous on the beach now, he looked 'annoyed' as Cousin Bart dumped a whole bunch of sand on his head and started running. He whipped past her quickly, and Lian squealed as the sand kicked up and showered her hair and face. And she'd just gotten her hair done, too - no fair!

Bart continued on, his body and movements a blur, and try as she might - Lian couldn't catch him. He always did this when he didn't want to get in trouble - especially when Uncle Wally was around, because Uncle Wally was very...strict with Bart. Either way, she wanted her apology.

She was halfway to her arrow set when a tiny starbolt whipped the sand just seconds from Bart's next footstep, sending the speedster sprawling head first into gravel, shells and wet sand. Tiny sparks danced around his feet before winking away, and Lian had stifle her smile when she went to help him up.

Bart spat sand, "Hey! You could have hit me!"

"I was trying to hit you, you deserved it!"

The finger came first, the hand second, and then Lian watched as Mar'i shook a stern finger at him the way her daddy did, "You could've gotten sand in Lian's eyes, she would have been blind and it would have been all your fault cause you didn't apologize! So you gotta!"

While Bart mumbled his aplogies, Mar'i watched Lian, making sure her friend could hear every word, "Did you hear that? 'Cause I can get Uncle Wally, and he'll be in big trouble-" Bart made some really nervous noises, and Lian giggled, nodding. "Don' do that, Mar'i, or Uncle Wally and Daddy and Garth and Donna and Jesse and Rose and Cassie and Kon and Vic and Gar and will have to come here and we'll miss the barbecue."

Mar'i stuck out her tongue, all traces of annoyance gone from her features, "Uncle Roy always makes the burgers change colors. I don' like black."

Lian nodded, "Don' tell him though. He'll get sulky."

Mar'i shrugged, taking Lian's hand and pulling her up the shore. It was really hard to not be pulled by Mar'i, cause she was really strong and gave you a glare when you didn't do what she said, "Daddy says he's jealous."

"He's good at other stuff, though." Lian jumped over a mini sand castle. There were a lot of them all over the beach - Bart must have made them - and the tide was rising, gently washing some of them out. There looked like six left, but Mar'i was pulling too fast to count.

"Yeah, but then Mommy says that your Daddy _wants_ to make good burgers." She frowned for a moment, "I don' know why. All those poor cows he'll kill practicing."

She plowed through a sand castle without even looking, like it was nothing. It was scary when Mar'i did that without noticing. Almost like she didn't care. Lian considered pointing them out, but Mar'i was really good at making sandcastles. She'd make more. And if they had enough time, they could find snails and become really good real estate agents for the new homes.

Now that she thought about it - they'd have to make a hospital too. She wasn't sure, but it looked like Mar'i's foot had met a snail.

"Mar'i!"

----

**(Chapter by Daybreak25)**


	3. Halloween

Lian was seven and three-fourths years old. She'd known Mar'i Grayson for seven and three-fourth years, and yet, she'd never seen her bestest friend so worried. Mar'i's eyes darted back and forth as she stepped in quietly behind Lian, her pink, ruffly dress swishing around her, which made her gasp and grasp the curls as if anyone could hear them. Lian frowned at her and huffed, "Stop that, Mar'i. You're gonna get my dress all squished up."

Mari's glare darted towards Lian, almost violet. "I don' wanna be in here, Lian. Daddy says we should never go in his room and --" she gulped, hard. "I could be in big trouble."

Lian waved her friend's guilt away, smiling as she surveyed the room with delight and curosity. "It won' take long. Your mom and my dad'll be here any second and you're not finished with your costume yet, so that's why we're here."

"My costume is finished!" Mar'i hissed quietly, eyes darting again. "I told you I'm a super-fairy-ballerina-princess-Robin! You're the one with the not-finished costume!"

Lian looked down at her costume, at the green tights and leotard, and then up at the feathered hat she'd gotten from her daddy. She looked like a regular Peter Pan, although her bows were somewhere downstairs, getting ready. She planned to snag plenty of bags tonight and could only hope Auntie Kory wouldn't say anything if she noticed holes in the trees like last time.

Mar'i was ruffling again, which was making her dress squishy, so Lian rolled her eyes and clucked her tongue and put her hands on her hips like Auntie Kory did when Uncle Dick forgot the flowers. "You can't be a super-fairy-ballerina-princess Robin without a mask."

"Can soooooooooo." Mar'i argued, glaring at her and matching her movement. She looked smaller in the dress somehow, and Lian knew the tights were helping her cause for the first time, Mar'i actually blinked, and dropped her glare first, the smallest of smiles working her lips. "Okay, Lian. But I don' know how we're gonna find one of Daddy's masks."

"Did your Grandpa Bruce say that your Daddy's closet was a 'regular wasteland?'" Lian ticked the words off from memory, something she'd also learned from her daddy. "Now, I don' know what he meant by that, but I'm sure we could find a mask if we tried. Cause anything's possible remember?" She linked her pale arm with Mar'i's tan one. Mar'i smiled wider, and they marched steadily towards the closet door, taking grasp of the handle and sliding it back.

And then the rush came: books and shirts and shoes and more books and even more shoes and Uncle Dick's uniform, and Auntie Kory's dresses and even more shirts. When when the waterfall had subsided, Lian poked her head up a little, a sock dangling from her ear. "Mar'i?"

"Over here!" A small hand darted from behind a box.

"Did you find a mask?"

"Yeah, think so!" Mar'i's head popped up next, a very large domnio mask sheltering her forehead, eyes and face. Mar'i grunted and pulled at it a bit until it snapped into the right size and then she grinned, hard and wide at Lian. "Do I look like a super-fairy-ballerina-princess-Robin now?" she asked.

Lian beamed proudly. "Uh-huh!"

---

It was sometime later that Auntie Kory's call for them reached their ears. At that time, everything was shoved back into the closet -- thanks to Mar'i and her Auntie Kory strength -- and the girls rushed downwards, Lian instantly hunting for their paper bags and Mar'i launching herself into Daddy's arms.

When he'd finished hugging Mar'i, Daddy took notice of her face, and promptly bursted into laughter. Not even Auntie Kory knew what was so funny, and now that Lian thought about it, didn't seem so good.

Then again, Daddy always laughed at the non-funny stuff, too.

----

**(Chapter by Daybreak25)**


	4. Sink or Swim

(Azelma, _please _forgive me if I am trampling on the sacred teachings of basic swimming. I was totally winging this description.)

**Sink or Swim**

"_No._"

"But Lian, you _promised._"

"Yeah, an' I kept it!"

"Gettin' your feet wet doesn't count as swimming."

"Can't we do somethin' else?"

"You swore that you'd let me teach you how ta swim as soon as I could control my starbolts, and today Mommy told me that I _did._ You promised, and Auntie Donna always says it's bad to not do a promise."

Mar'i was getting very, _very_ annoyed. After all that practice, she'd finally hit the target that Mommy had set up _weeks_ ago and now Lian was trying to refuse her swim lesson. Uncle Roy had even sworn to leave them alone in the big pool room to learn (even though he said that he'd come right in at any time if he wanted to see and that was that). It just wasn't fair.

"But I don't like the water, Mar'i!" Lian announced for what seemed like the zillionth time. Her feet were doing a little dance on the highest stair of the pool. Mar'i could see it especially good when she dunked her head in the water and opened her eyes like she was doing now.

"You gotta learn!" The violet eyed girl protested as she pulled her head above the pool surface. "What'll ya do if a bad guy drags ya under?"

"I'll…I'll shoot an arrow!" Lian said it real fast, like the thought of getting herself more wet than she already was made her _super_ nervous. She started tugging at her bright red, still dry swimsuit uncomfortably.

"An' then what?" Mar'i shot back with a look that Uncle Roy always called 'defiant.' Uncle Roy said Mar'i used this face a lot. "You'll _drown._" That made Lian go pale.

"…O_kay…_"

"Well c'mon then!" Mar'i yanked her friend by the wrist, pulling her further into the pool. "You gotta learn to sink or swim!"

----

Sink or swim. Why did that sound so scary?

Because swimming _was_ scary, that's why. Lian felt herself getting pulled away from those big, safe steps, trying to ignore every little message from her brain telling her that this was _bad_. If Mar'i somehow got her to the center, Lian had a feeling that she'd never be able to get them back out. The pool was _huge._

"Kay, lay down," they'd suddenly stopped (not too far from the side, Lian noted happily) and now Mar'i was telling her to…_what?_

"On the _water?_"

"You gotta get over your fear, and floating is the easiest thing to do," the violet eyed girl insisted. "I'll hold you up, promise." After a little pause, Lian took a big breath and fell over backward. Mar'i held her while she floated, and it was _great._ She even let go, and Lian didn't sink! Then Mar'i showed her how to tread water which was _really_ hard, and Lian kept falling underwater then coming up coughing and screaming and her seven year old teacher would have to help her out. It took a little while, but soon she could tread then fall back into a float. Mar'i wasn't a bad teacher.

They practiced breathing at the edge of the pool. In from the side, out from the front. In from the side, out from the front. In, out, in, out. It didn't seem too hard, at least not until Mar'i announced that they'd be putting it all together.

_Sink or swim,_ Lian repeated over and over to herself as she moved her arms and legs, _sink or swim…sink or-_

Suddenly, everything went black.

----

"Lian?" Mar'i shook her friend real hard until she heard a groan. "_Lian?_ You okay? Breath deep and relax. You'll feel better after a while."

"What happened?" Lian's voice sounded throaty and weird. It probably hurt to talk.

"I think you musta swallowed a gallon of water or somethin'. It was a good thing I was there to save your life, huh?"

"You gonna make me try again?" They stared at one another for a second.

"Naw. You did really good for your first try. But we can do it again soon!" Mar'i giggled happily and Lian worked up a smile.

"Hey, you wanna go do it?" The student sat up slowly, like it kinda hurt.

"It?" The violet eyed girl asked, confused.

"Y'know..._it,_" her friend gestured to the window at the way far end of the pool room that gave them a perfect view of the biggest and best climbing rock on Titans Island. Mar'i's eyes lit up at the sight.

"_Yeah!_"

In a split second, they'd zoomed out of the pool room, sharing a troublemaking glint in their eyes.

----

They'd been planning to do it _forever_, but today felt special. Like it would really mean something if they did it today. So they did it.

Lian went first.

She held the arrow in her hand, its razor sharp head shining dangerously. This was one of the arrows Lian was told that she wasn't allowed to touch until she was a grown-up. Daddy said she could get cut real bad if she wasn't careful, but today was _special_. So as careful as she could manage, Lian Harper dragged the tip through the side of the hard stone in front of her, the carvings forming a word.

_Mar'i_

Mar'i smiled at the word and moved up to stand next to her friend. She could feel Lian's eyes on her as she concentrated and aimed a thin starbolt beam from her finger, messily tracing out two words in seconds, so that the rock's face now read:

_Mar'i and Lian_

They worked together on the last two words, being super extra careful. The result made the two best friends giggle and exchange a clumsy hug.

_Mar'i and Lian  
__Best Freinds Forever_

----

**(Chapter by SushiChica)**


	5. Colorful

"I cannot _believe _Mr. Harris gave you a D on that paper," a sixteen year old Mar'i spat as she nearly kicked open her bedroom door, Lian, seventeen, close behind her.

"Believe me, I know," the red head rolled her eyes and closed the door, the essay in question clutched in her left hand.

"His reasoning was so convoluted too!" Mar'i grabbed the paper from her friend and read the near-illegible comments from the teacher in a mock alto. "'_Your grammar and structure were solid, but the context was unfounded. Not all of us can be superheroes, Lian.._' Who does this guy think he is? The assignment was called _A Day in the Life of You_. What did he expect you to write? Normal things?"

Lian shrugged half heartedly. "Maybe I should've written about a more neutral day, not one where the Fearsome Five was trying to kill us."

"But they're _always_ trying to kill us. It's not an irregular thing," the half alien shook her head. "And now look at you. You're _depressed_. You know I hate it when you're depressed. It makes _me_ depressed."

"You shouldn't worry so much about me," Lian sighed heavily. "I'm just kind of…accepting the D."

"No! Don't accept it! You have to fight the grade, Li. If you let Mr. Harris think you're less than you really are, then you're just screwing yourself up the ass."

Lian's face contorted. "Don't say that. It's weird."

"And physically impossible," Mar'i went for a smile, but her friend barely responded. "See now, usually that would've made you laugh."

"I'm not really in a laughing mood. I'm good at English, Mar. I've never gotten anything below a B+ on an essay," Lian sat down on Mar'i's bed and kicked her backpack hostilely.

"…Okay. Move over," the black haired girl dove under her bed as Lian shifted to the left, and soon Mar'i had surfaced with what she had been looking for, a large basket brimming with every color of nail polish imaginable. "Emergency manicure time. And when we're done, we're going to the Tower and making use of that DVD library. You know you can't resist a large dose of crappy chick flicks, and your dad and my parents won't be back until around midnight because of that emergency Watchtower meeting with the League, remember?"

"What? Mar'i, no. Not right now-"

"Resistance is futile, and I have three of your favorite colors in my palm," the Tamaranian breathed a sigh of relief when her friend cracked a small smile. "Good girl. Left hand." Before Lian could react, her hand was in Mar'i's care and her nails were being painted crimson red. "So, it's almost Christmas. What are you getting everybody?"

Lian arched an eyebrow, "Um, where did that come from?"

"It's a question to distract you. C'mon, spill the gifts."

"I don't know…"

"C'mon. Think of anyone." A pause. "What're you getting Robert?"

"Robert Long?"

"No," Mar'i droned sarcastically, moving to Lian's right hand. "The _other_ Robert we know who you're completely enamored with."

"Oh, shut up. I really don't know what I'm getting anyone. _Especially_ him."

"Well you've at least been _considering_ things, haven't you?"

"I seriously don't-"

"Lian, just think of a damn gift. It doesn't even have to be _good_. Just get your mind off of Mr. Harris and that stupid grade."

"Fine, fine. Um…how about soap?"

Mar'i gave her friend an odd look. "Soap?"

"You said it didn't have to be good."

Lian watched the thoughtful look on her friend's face as she finished her nails and chose three different shades of purple and blue for her own. "Well…I guess he'll be thinking of you when he's in the shower, which is always a plus."

There was a short, awkward silence as Mar'i's implications sunk in, and suddenly Lian was laughing, laughing so hard that she was almost crying. It got Mar'i laughing too, and the two girls sat on the bed together and laughed until their sides hurt. All the tension from the bad grade was gone, and the only thing Lian felt the need to worry about now was not messing up her nails while they were still wet, and maybe what she'd be getting Robert Long for Christmas.

That was one of the things she loved the most about her best friend; she had an unexpected response to everything. Because like her nail polish, Mar'i was colorful.

----

**(Chapter by SushiChica)**


End file.
